This is a great story.

A Kalamazoo couple lost their dog, Lola, back on October 21, 2017, when they were visiting friends in Elk Grove Village in Illinois. The dog and family were just reunited three years later.

The Chicago Tribune did a story on the reunion and said that Debra and Steve Mejeur had gotten Lola as a service dog. Lola was trained to help Debra when she had seizures. Back in 2017, they were visiting a friend and had left Lola in a fenced-in backyard. but she had managed to get out and run away. The story goes on to say that for the next month after she ran off, Steve and Debra would make trips back to the area from Michigan with the help of volunteers and look for the dog, eventually giving up hope she'd ever be found.

Well recently, the three were reunited when a couple brought the dog into Dupage County Animal Services.  The dog had a microchip so the shelter was able to call the Mejeurs and set up the reunion.

That's super awesome, but I think the cooler story is how Lola was rescued.

In a post on “Lost Dogs Illinois” a neighbor of the couple who “found” the dog, tells a story of a long-term rescue that led to Debra and Steve being reunited with Lola.

The neighbor goes on to tell the story of how over a year ago the couple spotted Lola in their “massive backyard” but because Lola was very skittish, she’d never get close to them. The area Lola was living in was a lot of big, unfenced backyards surrounded by a lot of wooded areas. As the story continues the neighbor says every day she saw her neighbor go out, no matter the weather, and feed the dog. After a while, she’d yell “puppy dog!” as she brought out the food (and water) and Lola learned that meant food was there. Remember this is happening over the course of a year! Finally, the day came that Lola would get close, as the post reads

My neighbor was beyond patient with her and knew if she moved too fast Lola would bolt. Finally last week I saw the neighbor get Lola on a leash! I was so excited and so were they.

As the proud neighbor says about the couple who took the time and patience to find the dog,

I think my super patient, caring, and loving neighbors should get some recognition for the great job they did.

I agree, that was some commitment on their part to look after and try to rescue a dog that was hanging around their backyard.

As you can see in the reunion video, it took a minute for Lola to recognize Debra, but once she remembered Debra's scent, she was super happy to be back together.

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